Making Spaces

By Shannon O'Connor

July 1st, 2017

One of the feature stories planned for this July-August issue was listed as “Evaluating Space and Leveraging Resources.” Before I could bring into focus a direction for the story, several readers contacted me with projects from their own campuses. They provided brief descriptions of creative reworking, re-purposing, renovation or redesign of existing facilities and asked if CP&M might be interested in hearing more.

Of course I said yes.

These are projects that, indeed, evaluate existing space and leverage resources available to develop new, exciting, modern spaces for learning. The projects that are included in this issue, from a re-purposed loading dock to an update of a venerable castle, serve as noteworthy examples of working creatively with existing resources.

This is not to imply that renovating existing facilities is something new or unique. Earlier this year in our 2017 Facilities & Construction Brief, a survey of our readers indicated that 53 percent of respondents were on schedule to complete major renovations or modernization of existing facilities in 2017, and 47 percent indicated they intended to begin major renovations or modernization this year.

Ultimately the decision to renovate an existing facility rather than tear it down and build new is based on a number of factors; a central one for most institutions is budget. Campus administrators want to get the most they can for the dollars available. With this in mind, we present our first annual Facilities Sourcebook, designed to serve as a year-round reference guide to services and products for the education market. The businesses that are featured in this special section — which begins on page 65 — are advertisers that regularly support this magazine. Without them, we would not exist. Please take that into consideration when you make future decisions about purchasing materials and services.

Also included in this issue is a special section containing the winners of the Healthy Facilities Awards. This is a new and growing awards program that has been created in partnership with the Healthy Facilities Institute (HFI). It is designed to acknowledge the caring individuals who work on the nation’s campuses, creating and maintaining healthy environments for students, faculty and staff. You will find details about the award recipients starting on page 59.

The spaces in which students learn matter. My goal is to continue to provide information and resources to help you in making and maintaining the best spaces for your students.

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2017 issue of College Planning & Management.